It looks like oleander to me.

Me too

Yes. Once you are sure you won't get another freeze, you can prune it. I have heard horror stories for 60+ years, but have never known of anyone being harmed by them. I always told my kids what plants to leave alone.

I just pulled it. I do tell my little one not to touch certain plants... but still with a two year old I'd always worry.

You never know with kids. IMO, disposing of them is a good idea. I had to call poison control twice when my dd was little. The first time she ate Pyracantha berries. Turns out they are not poisonous and people actually make jelly out of them. I had to go door to door to all of my neighbors to find out what they were. I did an audit of my plants after that. I had some beautiful Oleander that I dug out because of the toxicity.

Next house, I had tulips. Dd decided to eat the green part where the stems meet the flower. I think one of her friends had told her about honeysuckle and she decided to substitute the tulip. She didn't swallow it, but it was in her mouth. I called poison control anyway.

Then in the next house, we had a cherry laurel. Not a problem until the "cherries" appeared. Caught dd with a plate of them. She was six. I explained she couldn't eat them. She threw them out. She is ten now. Hopefully, we are done with random plant eating.

Here is a list of poisonous plants in Texas.

list

Oleander is toxic but there have been extremely few deaths as a direct result of ingesting Oleander. And even then, those few deaths had other mitigating circumstances. I find them to be attractive blooming shrubs that aren't nearly as dangerous as has been rumored. But I also don't have young children. Probably best to not risk it.

Oh and here's a link to the Wikipedia page for Oleander. There is a section titled "Toxicity".

Here is a link that might be useful: Nerium Wikipedia page

it`s an oleander, a sick one that is desperate for water.
Do not dig it up, that is just stupid. There are millions of them in the world and how many times have you seen on the news of someone dying? Never. Why? They taste too bitter. Noone has ever, in the history of the world, died from accidentally eating this plant. A few have managed suicide, very, very few. It just tastes too bad, even animals won`t eat it.
Mom knew when we were playing with them, we made leis of the flowers, because it was the ONLY TIME we ever washed our hands without being told a million times.
How do I know this? I am a S.P.I. I work for the poison control center. Call me, 1-800-222-1222. Ask for the Galveston center if you want, that`s where I am.
Most of our calls and kids? Not plants, the stuff in the house, the dishsoap, the laundry soap, do NOT buy those pod things!! If you must keep them under lock and key. They are deadly for kids. Move things off the cabinets, kids can climb, like monkeys. Put stuff in locked cabinets. Your closet is not a good hiding spot. Child resistant lids are supposed to slow them down till you get to the kid, they don`t. Buy a lock box for your drugs, Tally HO!!

Thanks everyone for the great advice! I did already pull it. My two year old is constantly testing his boundaries and I just didn't want to risk it. I did water it once we moved in. Several of the plants looked a bit dry. I guess the sellers didn't water much when the house was listed. They had pretty much moved already. I was sad to pull it. We don't do detergent pods. I've heard of kids dying from eating those. Our cleaners are vinegar and water with essential oils so fairly safe there. The little one has already figured out all the cabinet locks and door knob contraptions. Sigh. ; )

I tell people that call us worried about oleanders to go out and take a bite. Believe me, noone ever takes a second bite.
Never, never, never, in the history of the world has anyone had an accidental poisoning from oleander. Ever.
If I am wrong people die, my boss doesn`t like that.

They are great plants, only 1 disease and it`s rare, dought resistant, great bloomers, pest free, no need to fertilize, water or fuss with them. You can cut them to the ground and they grow back. You can train them to trees. Tons of colors, dwarf varieties, hardy red is hardy to zero degrees!
Easy from cuttings, easy from seeds.

Galveston is known as the Oleander city. Our annual Oleander festival is coming up.
Tally HO!

Storm18- If you ever decide you'd like an oleander later down the road, I've really enjoyed mine in a large planter. I can move it to keep it away from the dog if needed. It's pretty barren now since this arctic front we just had so I don't know if it's still alive but it had the prettiest salmon pink blooms and during the summer, in the intense heat and direct sun, it thrived.

Personally I don't care for it. It is a little frost tender, over planted in my area. A little boring, but everyone has their own opinion. I dug one up because I was worried dogs would eat it. There are plenty of shrubs that are hardy here, not poisonous and more interesting to me.

you obviously have never been to the island in the middle of bloom season!! They are simply gorgeous. I do miss the ones lining the highway on the way in to town, they were cut down and never replaced.

Imagine every street with huge bushes covered in blooms of red, yellow, pink, peach, variegated, double flowers, fragrance.....I love oleanders!

We are known as the Oleander city and have a big Oleander festival every year.

I just dug some dwarf ones from my Aunts house to plant along the alley.
Tally HO!

ps, the dog won`t eat it, they really taste that bad and bitter. I still make a face when I cut them thinking of the last time I got that sap in my mouth. lol!

I spent some time growing up in the tropics surrounded by oleanders as a toddler and, I am told I ate rocks and bugs, but seems that I passed up the oleanders or ate not enough of them to do any harm. I made club houses under them and was very close to them, touched them,sat on their litter while naked (cute picture), built doll houses out of their sticks and used the leaves for rugs and roofs. Strung flowers into Leas and made dolls out of the twigs also. I am now 60 years old.

I don't remember my mother being very concerned about them at all . I was alive and adult in the Northeast when I heard that they were toxic and I should be very very cautious with them. My mom was much more concerned about the Cobras and krates that could kill me very quickly. I lived in Thailand and the Caribbean.